Defective block grant scheme firm hit by cyber attack

A cyber attack on a firm that works on a scheme to help people whose homes are crumbling in the Republic of Ireland has been described as “concerning.”

The Irish government ‘s Housing Agency said it had been notified of the “cyber incident” involving engineering firm, Jennings O’Donovan, which assesses defective block grant scheme applications.

Personal data – including addresses, personal contact details and photos of affected homes – may have been stolen, the agency said.

“We are deeply concerned by reports of a cyber attack,” Charles Ward TD (Irish MP), of the 100% Redress Party, said.

The Housing Agency said the attack had been “isolated to one engineering company, ” and that it was in the process of contacting affected applicants.

Ward said the people affected needed to be given more information.

He said they now need “full clarification on the timeline, nature of compromised data, and the steps being taken to safeguard records and affected homeowners.

“Families entrusted highly sensitive information to this process, believing it would be handled with care,” the Donegal TD said.

“They are entitled to complete transparency and clear, honest answers.”

Thousands of homes in the Republic of Ireland – mostly in counties Clare, Donegal, Limerick, Mayo and Sligo – have crumbled in recent years because of defective bricks.

That is because of the presence of water-absorbing minerals that cause the bricks to crack with the result that many homes now need to be demolished.

The Housing Agency said it was “working closely with Jennings O’Donovan to ascertain as much information as possible surrounding the cyber incident”.

It is also contacting people affected to advise them of the cyber incident.

“If applicants have not been contacted they are not impacted by this cyber incident,” the agency said

Officials have also notified the Data Protection Commissioner in the Republic of Ireland and all other relevant local authorities.